If you've been following these monthly Home Screen updates you know that I've been on a mission to find the perfect Home Screen setup. Each month has been an iteration getting closer to what I want. Sometimes in these iterative cycles you see small changes, sometimes you see huge ones. This month definitely falls into the latter category...huge change.

The iOS 12.1 public beta is now available for those of you who would like to embrace the future before the masses. To get the beta go to beta.apple.com and follow the instructions there. A quick warning though, a beta is not a complete piece of software. It’s mostly complete but there will be a higher potential for bugs, so only join the beta if you are willing to deal with some issues.

Since last month’s Home Screen article I’ve moved 500 miles, stopped working at the Coffee Shop, and begun focusing more intently on my Podcast Network, Super Mega Corp, and this website. As such, my Home Screen has changed to accommodate this major shift in my life.

My apps are still arranged by color but due to the number of changes this month I’ve had to get a little creative with the finish product. My white row is now vertical, leaving room for four rows of three apps to complete the square. I now have a red/orange row as well as the ever present green row, purple row, and now an almost perfect blue row.

Each Fall Apple releases a new version of iOS, the operating system that powers iPhones and iPads the world over. In line with that release Federico Viticci releases his comprehensive review on MacStories.

I love photography, and while I prefer shooting with my DSLR, there is no denying that the cameras on today’s smartphones are incredibly capable, especially when paired with high quality apps that allow you to shoot, edit, and share all on the same device. Recently, there have been a few articles on the App Store aimed at helping you get better at photography with your phone that I have found helpful:

A few things have changed on my Home Screen but overall this month maintains the organizational ideas from last month.

The biggest change is the absence of a Blue row. I've kept Trello and Day One (Which just received a big update) but gotten rid of the dedicated icons for my Toggl timer Workflows. I did this because the Workflows themselves are better when triggered from the Workflow widget itself. When launched from the Home Screen the Toggl Workflows open the Workflow app, run the Workflow, and then show on-screen popups with the relevant information. When triggered from the Workflow widget, however, the Workflow runs in the background and then displays the relevant information from within the widget itself. No app switching, no popups...much nicer to use and to look at, plus this decision frees up two slots on my Home Screen, so I consider this a big win.

My iPhone is a tool that I love to use. As such, I take particular care to make sure that my home screen is set up to work for me (link to taking back my iPhone). Each month I plan on sharing my home screen with you all as a way to let you know about any new cool apps I’m using, to provide my thoughts on productivity and technological usefulness, as well as to provide an online archive for myself of how I was thinking and working in the past. Ultimately, however, I hope you will find these posts helpful and informative.

We live in a time where access to information and other people is ubiquitous. Need an answer to a question? Google it. Want to know what your friends are up to? Check their Social Media profiles. Want to communicate at all hours of the day with co-workers? Email them, Slack them, assign a new task on the company Trello Board.

This constant access has its benefits but it can also cause stress, ruin our work focus, and cause mental health problems. Our lives can easily become overrun with the requests for our time, attention, and focus whether they be from other people or from the apps and services we rely on. This is not right. Technology is supposed to work for us not against us.